Lorry driver distracted by porn on his phone killed dad in horror M58 smash

Neil Platt was described as a "multi-tonne accident waiting to happen"

Cheryl Mullin and Kim Pilling 19:11, 19 Sep 2025Updated 19:18, 19 Sep 2025

A lorry driver was looking at pornography on his phone just seconds before he killed a dad of two in a horror motorway crash.

Photographs of naked women appeared on the X social media feed of Neil Platt moments before his HGV ploughed into the back of Danny Aitchison's Hyundai Kona, killing him instantly. The crash happened close to junction four of the M58 in Skelmersdale[1], Lancashire, on May 17 last year.

"Heavily distracted" Platt had failed to notice stationary traffic ahead of him and smashed into Mr Aitchison vehicle as he waited at the end of a queue.

The collision took place just before 1pm after police had earlier put in place a rolling roadblock after reports of a woman pedestrian on the motorway.

Platt was travelling at 54mph before the collision, only breaking 35 metres ahead of Daniel's Hyundai and just 1.5 seconds before impact.

The 46-year-old's car was shunted into the rear of a tanker and his vehicle exploded into flames on impact.

Preston Crown Court heard today, Friday, that Platt, 43, had persistently viewed content on his phone during a three-hour journey from Dumfries, Scotland, along the M6 and then when he joined the westbound carriageway of the M58.

Judge Ian Unsworth KC told Platt his "arrogant and selfish attitude to driving was quite breathtaking."

He continued: "You willingly and without any excuse chose to ignore the laws of the road. This was not a one-off glance on your phone... you were looking at such things as X, TikTok and YouTube.

"The collision that occurred could have happened anywhere along that journey. The blunt reality is you travelled well over 100 miles in what was sometimes a highly distracted state.

"In short, you were a multi-tonne accident waiting to happen."

Judge Unsworth said there was no evidence to suggest the defendant was searching for porn before the crash but said he had "prioritised looking at social media" over the welfare and safety of other road users.

He told him: "You were distracted by doing something so mindblowingly stupid.

"You were not paying attention to what was ahead but you were paying attention to your phone.

"It beggars belief that while in charge of that muli-tonne vehicle you were looking at social media and scrolling X in which some of the content was pornographic in nature."

Stephen McNally, defending, said "family-orientated" Platt, a dad himself, was "genuinely remorseful".

He said: "Even though the defendant's mobile phone was in a cradle and in front of him, this case provides an object lesson in demonstrating that even for the most experienced of drivers, not giving the road your undivided attention and concentration can have the most devastating consequences."

Platt, a HGV driver for 15 years, was described as "hating himself" for the trauma he had caused.

Platt, of Daniel Close, Bootle[2], pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing the death of Mr Aitchison, from Liverpool.

He will serve two-thirds of his sentence in custody and on his release will be banned from driving for seven years.

Mr Aitchison's partner Kerry, mum to his children Ella, 17, and Jack, 10, told the court she was on the phone to him at the time of his death and assumed his battery had run out of charge.

She said: "I feel angry he has lost his life in such a way.

He was just coming home to me and the kids. Their hero has gone."

His mum, Jeanette Aitchison, said: "Danny had a good relationship with every member of our family. He was a constant presence in their lives.

"He was the centre of our family, he was always there for his friends and colleagues, Danny would do anything for anyone.

"The loss of Danny has had a significant impact on me and my family.

Quite simply, I feel devastated.

"The decision to drive while scrolling for a prolonged period of time on a mobile phone, let alone using a HGV, is utterly crazy."

References

1. ^ Skelmersdale (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
2. ^ Bootle (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)